Meta-Browsing on Existing Systems

[Marc Santoro]

  Herein is contained a summary of information on meta-browsing gathered
from the Tunes site, and through conversation on IRC. Hopefully this
information can be used to spark a useful debate. This is my
understanding:

  The Web is currently inadequate for any kind of meta-browsing. Content
on the Web is almost completely static, and when it is not static, it is
highly restricted and nigh-unusable. CGI allows the browser to see only
what the script author had the foresight to program. In order for a CGI to
allow meta-browsing, it would have to be so extremely complex, that it
would be very difficult to learn to use. XML and DHTML are some
interesting ideas. However, they are designed more to enhance HTML pages
than to allow a true meta-browsing system. A page using HTML is still a
linear page.
  To be truly useful, our system needs to present information in the form
of meaningful objects that can be interacted with. These objects not only
need to interact with the user, but they should also be able to interact
with eachother. Obviously HTML is useless because it allows no real
interactivity. XML is useful, but it is still very limiting. XML is still
a markup language, so we can define structured documents, but the browser
is still limited to what the author wrote in his document. The reader does
not get the full benefit of the authors knowledge, nor his own ability at
processing information.
  The problem with the current markup languages comes down to one simple
point. They can't be arbitrarily interacted with by the user or the
system. With meta-browsing, the system should be able to interact with the
document natively. The document, at the very least, could be composed of
objects that can respond to messages. These objects can reply with data,
or could be a working example of the concept being described. And ideally,
the objects should be a union of the two. The user could then browse these
objects as he desires, and these objects could interact with each other to
present the user with related information on what the he wants to see.
  The benefits to such a system are obvious. The user could be able to
maintain the objects locally in such a way that he can edit and republish
them. The objects can be written in many languages, when one considers
that most languages have Foreign Function Interfaces. If a message-passing
object system is used, and the message format is standardized, a FFI can
be designed for many languages that will allow them to interact in the
document transparently. A user can use the system he prefers to interact
with the objects, freeing the author from the tedious task of suiting his
information to potential readers. And the user can modify the document
without learning the details of the languages the document was designed
in.
  In summary, a meta-browsing system needs to allow documents that consist
entirely of objects. HTML can not provide this. In the meta-browsing
system, the user can interact with the objects in any way he desires, to
find the information he wants. These objects do not have to be written in
any particular language, existing systems such as Squeak and CommonLisp
(Both ACL and CMUCL at the very least) provide facilities necessary to
link the objects together. The user does not even need to use the
language[s] the objects were designed in to interact with them; he should
be able to use any system that provides an interface to the objects. This
could be a "point-and-click" browser, or it could be an environment like
Squeak or Lisp. The most important thing is that the user has the ability
to interact with the information provided using any method he sees fit.